Aircraft and engine designs are challenged to drive ever-increasingly toward lower fuel consumption and emissions. One known solution to increase aircraft efficiency is to mount a hybrid-electric fan section at or near the tail-section of an aircraft.
However, similar to a conventional, under-wing fan configuration, a diameter of a fan section is limited by the available ground clearance of an aircraft during takeoff roll and landing. A known solution is to remove the fan nacelle to provide an open-rotor configuration. However, removing a fan nacelle may reduce fan efficiency. Additionally, fan nacelles provide noise suppression and fan blade containment protection, without which the benefits of an open-rotor configuration may be offset by increased noise and loss of fan blade containment capability.
Therefore, a need exists for a fan section mounted to an aircraft tail section that may overcome fan diameter restrictions due to aircraft ground clearance while also providing aircraft efficiency, noise suppression, and/or fan blade containment benefits.